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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Wei Pan, PhD, Division of Educational Studies, University of Cincinnati, P.O. Box 210002, Cincinnati, OH 45221, (513) 556-2610, wei.pan@uc.edu and Haiyan Bai, EdD, University of Central Florida, Department of Educational Research, Technology, and Leadership, Orlando, FL 32816.

Project D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) is a widespread, expensive, but controversial drug prevention program for elementary and junior high school students. The controversy necessitates comprehensive meta-analytic review on the effectiveness of the school-based drug prevention program. Unfortunately, only two published meta-analyses reviewed this controversial topic, and also both have following limitations: (1) Both meta-analyses did not simultaneously analyze the naturally-related outcome measures of the D.A.R.E program, (2) Both meta-analyses lack of exploring the relationships between the study characteristics and the outcome measures, and (3) Most of the primary studies in both meta-analyses are either from unpublished sources or out of date. The purpose of the present meta-analysis is to obtain more understanding of the effectiveness of the school-based drug prevention program by conducting a multivariate meta-analytic review on the effectiveness of the D.A.R.E. program for all reported outcome measures simultaneously across 38 updated primary studies. The meta-analytic results show that the effect sizes of the outcome measures were homogenous with a minimum overall effect of the school-based drug prevention program on drug use and larger effects for mental health measures, and there are also associations between the effect sizes of the outcome measures and the time span between the time when the students graduated from the D.A.R.E program and the time when the outcomes were measured. The present multivariate meta-analysis would provide more comprehensive and valid information for future implementation of the school-based drug prevention program.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to

• Recognize that the school-based drug prevention program, Project D.A.R.E., may not be effective as intended for all outcome measures.
• Apply the multivariate meta-analytic technique to other substantive topics.

Keywords: School-Based Programs, Drug Use

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered